Second Chance for ‘Devil : UCLA: Arizona State quarterback Benton thought his playing days were over. Then McGee was suspended.

Arizona State quarterback Grady Benton feared he had ruined his college career when he and teammate Derrick Land pleaded no contest to charges of using a stolen credit card last summer. They were put on three years’ probation and suspended for the first game of the season.

“I’d never been in any kind of trouble before, but I made a mistake,” Benton said. “I was real down that I wasn’t going to get another shot and that I blew it for myself.”

Benton got a second chance, though, when starting quarterback Garrick McGee was suspended for the first two games after pleading guilty to two counts of burglary last month. McGee, one of 12 Sun Devils arrested during the school’s recent legal problems, was given three years’ probation and a two-month suspended jail term.

Benton started the second game of the season, leading the Sun Devils to a 19-0 victory over Louisville. He split time with McGee in defeats by Nebraska and Oregon but has started the last two games, leading the Sun Devils to victories over Pacific and Oregon State.

Arizona State, 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Pacific 10, will play UCLA, 3-3 and 0-3, tonight at 7 at the Rose Bowl.

Ryan Fien will become the first true freshman since 1979 to start at quarterback for UCLA. Fien was sacked four times and lost two fumbles that set up touchdowns after replacing starter John Barnes in last week’s 30-17 loss at Washington State.

Fien is the fourth starting quarterback the Bruins have used this season.

Quarterback Wayne Cook suffered a season-ending knee injury during UCLA’s 37-14 season-opening victory over Cal State Fullerton. Rob Walker, who replaced Cook, started four games before suffering an ankle injury two weeks ago during a 19-7 defeat by Stanford. Barnes, a transfer from UC Santa Barbara, started against Washington State, but played only three series before he was pulled after throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

Benton, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound, redshirt freshman, leads the Pac-10 in passing efficiency and is ranked fifth in the nation with a quarterback rating of 149.6. Benton, who is on pace to set a school record for pass completion percentage in a season, has connected on 73.5% of his passes for 885 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions. He hasn’t thrown more than three consecutive incomplete passes this season.

“I haven’t been blessed with a strong arm, so my goal is to be accurate,” Benton said.

“Grady has played very well,” Arizona State Coach Bruce Snyder said. “Our early quarterback situation was really a mess. In our first three games, we started three different quarterbacks.

“But we felt we needed to settle down and have one quarterback, and Grady has improved as the weeks have gone by. He’s been very consistent and accurate.”

Benton will face one of the best defensive backfields in the Pac-10 tonight. UCLA’s secondary of cornerbacks Carlton Gray and Carl Greenwood and safeties Othello Henderson and Marvin Goodwin held Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe to 108 yards passing, his lowest total since his freshman season, during last week’s 30-17 loss to the Cougars.

Benton wasn’t heavily recruited after passing for 1,350 yards and nine touchdowns in leading Mesa High to the Arizona prep championship in 1990. He was set to attend Mesa Community College until then-Arizona State Coach Larry Marmie offered him the school’s last available scholarship.

Benton, who redshirted last season, considered quitting, figuring that Marmie would never play him.

“I think he had his mind pretty set on who he wanted,” Benton said. “I was going to go out for the baseball team.”

But Snyder replaced Marmie last January, giving Benton new hope--and a second chance.

Bruin Notes

Wide receiver Sean LaChapelle and defensive end Mike Chalenski, who sat out last week’s game because of a cracked rib and thumb injury, respectively, and defensive tackle Matt Werner, who has a broken toe, are expected to play tonight. Tailback Kevin Williams and nose guard Sale Isaia won’t play. Williams has a pulled hamstring, Isaia a sprained ankle.

If it rains today, the Brookside Golf Course will not be available for parking. It will be available at the Ralph Parsons lot at Fair Oaks and Walnut, with free shuttle service to the Rose Bowl available beginning two hours before kickoff.